FFPEcap-seq: a method for sequencing capped RNAs in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples.

The majority of clinical cancer specimens are preserved as formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. For clinical molecular tests to have wide-reaching impact, they must be applicable to FFPE material. Accurate quantitative measurements of RNA derived from FFPE specimens is challenging because of low yields and high amounts of degradation.

Recurrent early stage endometrial cancer: Patterns of recurrence and results of salvage therapy.

Objective: To analyze our institutional experience and oncologic outcomes for salvage treatment for the recurrence of early-stage endometrial cancer patients.

Methods: We included women of all ages diagnosed with FIGO stage I-II, any grade endometrial cancer from 2000 to 2016 at our institutions who were treated with at least a hysterectomy. Recurrences in the pelvis and/or vagina were considered locoregional recurrences (LRR).

Do vaginal recurrence rates differ among adjuvant vaginal brachytherapy regimens in early-stage endometrial cancer?

Purpose: We sought to retrospectively examine clinical outcomes for three adjuvant vaginal high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy regimens after hysterectomy for early-stage endometrial cancer.

Methods: Included were women of all ages from two independent hospital systems diagnosed with Stage I-II endometrial cancer of any grade between 2000 and 2016 who underwent hysterectomy followed by adjuvant vaginal cylinder HDR brachytherapy with either 7.0 Gy × 3 fractions prescribed to 0.

Patterns of family communication and preferred resources for sharing information among families with a Lynch syndrome diagnosis.

Objectives: To explore patterns of communication among families with a Lynch syndrome diagnosis and understand what resources could facilitate family communication.

Methods: 127 probands (i.e.

Hyperglycosylated hCG and Placenta Accreta Spectrum.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the relationship between hyperglycosylated human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG-H) and placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

Study Design: This was a case-control study of PAS and controls. hCG-H was measured in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy in women with pathologically confirmed cases of PAS and in gestational age-matched controls without PAS.

Successful treatment of low-grade endometrial cancer in premenopausal women with an aromatase inhibitor after failure with oral or intrauterine progesterone.

Introduction: Young women with endometrial intraepithelial hyperplasia or low-grade endometrial carcinoma are potential candidates for conservative fertility sparing therapy utilizing progesterone rather than hysterectomy. High-dose progesterone treatment is associated with 55-80% initial response but high relapse rates. Using aromatase inhibitors in conjunction with high-dose progesterone has largely been unstudied.

Survival analysis of endometrial cancer patients with cervical stromal involvement.

Objective: Stage II endometrial cancer is relatively uncommon. There is no consensus for appropriate adjuvant therapy in endometrial cancer patients with cervical stromal involvement (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics [FIGO] stage II). This study investigates how adjuvant treatments and tumor characteristics influence overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in stage II patients in order to establish better treatment guidelines.

Mucoadhesive hybrid gel improves intraperitoneal platinum delivery.

A leading cause of death and suffering in patients with abdominal or pelvic malignancies is progression of peritoneal surface disease. Changes in the use of chemotherapy have shown significant survival benefits for intraperitoneal or combined intraperitoneal and intravenous treatment following optimal surgical cytoreduction. However, broader clinical use of intraperitoneal therapy has not reached its full potential due to limited efficacy, accessibility and nonspecific toxicity.

Survival Analysis of Cancer Patients With FIGO Stage IIIA Endometrial Cancer.

Objective: Endometrial cancer patients with positive serosa and/or adnexae (FIGO stage IIIA) have a variable prognosis and are at a significant risk for recurrence. We investigated how tumor characteristics and adjuvant treatments influence the overall survival (OS) and recurrence patterns in these patients and patients with positive cytology alone (previously classified as stage IIIA before 2009).

Materials And Methods: This multi-institution retrospective study reviewed 55 patients with positive serosa and/or adnexae and 18 patients with positive cytology only, surgically staged from 1990 to 2010.

Survival analysis of endometrial cancer patients with positive lymph nodes.

Objective: Patients with endometrial cancer with positive lymph nodes (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IIIC) have a substantially worse prognosis. This study investigates how tumor characteristics and adjuvant treatments influence overall survival (OS) in stage IIIC patients.

Methods: This multi-institution, institutional review board-approved study is a retrospective review of 116 patients with surgically staged endometrial cancer with positive lymph nodes treated from 1995 to 2008.

Endometrial cancer in a 14-year-old girl with Cowden syndrome: a case report.

The appearance of endometrial cancer in adolescence is uncommon and warrants investigation for an hereditary cancer syndrome. Cowden syndrome is an autosomal dominant cancer syndrome associated with a germline PTEN mutation and increased risk of breast, thyroid, endometrial and colon cancer. In this report we present a case of a 14-year-old nulligravid female diagnosed with grade 1 endometrial adenocarcinoma.

Localized delivery of chemotherapy to the cervix for radiosensitization.

Objective: Chemoradiation is the mainstay of therapy for advanced cervical cancer, with the most effective treatment regimens involving combinations of radiosensitizing agents. However, administration of radiosensitizing chemotherapeutics concurrently with pelvic radiation is not without side effects. The aim of this study was to examine the utility of localized drug delivery as a means of improving drug targeting of radiosensitizing chemotherapeutics to the cervix while limiting systemic toxicities.

Fertility-sparing management of endometrial adenocarcinoma.

Unlabelled: Approximately 15% of patients with endometrial cancer are premenopausal. Previous studies largely support the conservative treatment of endometrial cancer in women desiring future fertility. From these studies, 75% to 80% of patients demonstrate a complete response to progestin therapy and the average recurrence rate is 30% to 35%.

Familial clustering of endometrial cancer in a well-defined population.

Objective: Using a genealogical database, we examined risk of endometrial cancer among family members of individuals with endometrial cancer.

Methods: We identified endometrial cancer cases in the Utah Population Database (UPDB), a computerized archive of genealogy data linked to the Utah Cancer Registry. We tested for excess relatedness and estimated relative risks (RR) among first-, second-, and third-degree relatives of endometrial cancer cases and stratified analyses by tumor histology and body mass index (BMI).

Maternal morbidity in cases of placenta accreta managed by a multidisciplinary care team compared with standard obstetric care.

Objective: To compare maternal morbidity in cases of placenta accreta managed by a multidisciplinary care team with similar cases managed by standard obstetric care.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of all cases of placenta accreta identified in the State of Utah from 1996 to 2008. Cases of placenta accreta were identified using International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) codes for placenta accreta, placenta previa, and cesarean hysterectomy.

A population-based study of subsequent primary malignancies after endometrial cancer: genetic, environmental, and treatment-related associations.

Purpose: To examine the risk of subsequent primary malignancies (SPMs) in women diagnosed with endometrial cancer.

Methods And Materials: The National Cancer Institute's Survival, Epidemiology, and End Results database was used to determine the risk of SPM after endometrial cancer in 69,739 women diagnosed between 1973 and 2005. Standardized incidence ratios were calculated (observed/expected [O/E]) for SPM sites.

Endometrial cancer--current state of the art therapies and unmet clinical needs: the role of surgery and preoperative radiographic assessment.

Endometrial carcinoma is the fourth most common cancer among women in the United States. Surgical pathologic staging has been the standard of care since 1988, which consists of analysis of collected peritoneal fluid, hysterectomy/oophorectomy, and pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy. In 2005, it was further recommended that essentially all women with endometrial cancer who choose to undergo surgery have pelvic and para-aortic lymph node analysis.

Self-test device for cytology and HPV testing in rural Appalachian women: an evaluation.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of a self-test device for obtaining vaginal/cervical samples for HPV DNA and cytologic testing.

Study Design: We recruited 878 Appalachian women; 775 were able to submit a self-test sample and a provider-collected sample. Each specimen was assessed for cytologic abnormalities and for high-risk HPV infection.

Radiosensitization of cervical cancer cells via double-strand DNA break repair inhibition.

Purpose: LY294002, a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, has been found to radiosensitize various human cancer cells. However, its potential to act as an effective therapeutic agent is diminished by its toxicity levels. The purposes of this study were to determine the mechanism by which LY294002 radiosensitizes.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibition by LY294002 radiosensitizes human cervical cancer cell lines.

Purpose: The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) catalytic subunit is amplified in cervical cancers, implicating PI3K in cervical carcinogenesis. We evaluated the radiosensitizing effect of PI3K inhibition by LY294002 on clonogenic survival, growth characteristics, and gene expression in cervical cancer cell lines (HeLa and CaSki).

Experimental Design: Cervical cancer cells were treated separately and concurrently with the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 (10 micromol/L) and radiation (2 Gy) with serial analysis of cell count, apoptosis, and flow cytometry.

C/EBPbeta activity and HPV-16 E6/E7 mRNA expression are not altered by imiquimod (ALDARA) in human cervical cancer cells in vitro.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the potential relationship between imiquimod and C/EBPbeta by investigating the extent to which imiquimod could alter C/EBPbeta binding activity to known sequences of the HPV-16 NCR, which could lead to the repression of HPV-16 E6/E7 oncogene expression, possibly impacting a major mechanism by which HPV causes cellular transformation.

Methods: The effect of imiquimod treatment on C/EBPbeta binding activity to its consensus sequence as well as to two specific regions of the HPV-16 NCR was determined by electromobility shift assay (EMSA) in CaSki cervical cancer cells. HPV-16 E6/E7 gene expression was evaluated by RNase protection assay (RPA) in CaSki and in W12-E cells treated with imiquimod.

Superiority of electrocautery over the suture method for achieving cervical cone bed hemostasis.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of electrocautery with that of the suture method for achieving hemostasis of the cervical cone bed.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of all patients who underwent cold-knife conization of the cervix over a 5-year period. Patients were categorized into two groups: the cautery group, in which the cone bed was electrocauterized with a hand-held electrocoagulation device; and the suture group, in which hemostasis was achieved by a continuous locking suture placed circumferentially around the cone bed.

Cephalic vein cutdown for inserting indwelling subclavian vein catheters in gynecologic oncology patients.

To decide on an alternate procedure for placement of central vein catheters other than percutaneous access of the subclavian vein, we conducted a study of 46 women who underwent placement of a central venous catheter utilizing the cephalic vein procedure at Ruby Memorial Hospital at West Virginia University in Morgantown. Of these patients, 96% had a successful placement of a catheter into the subclavian vein following dissection of the cephalic vein within the deltopectoral groove. There were no cases of pneumothorax or injury to the great vessels during the surgical procedure, which is a significant advantage for women who often have significant pleural effusions.